Between Yesterday and Tomorrow
by Richard Lioncourt
Summary: AU, Squinoa. Rinoa Heartilly is a student in Balam, hoping to become a SeeD, she’s popular, she has friends, and she has a boyfriend, yet, she hasn’t meet Squall... what will happen when she meets him?
1. Catching Up

Disclaimer: I don't own any FF, and sadly, it will stay that way , the only thing i own is this plot, scary huh? P

A/U. Squinoa. Rinoa Heartilly is a student in Balamb, hoping to become a SeeD, she's popular, she has friends, and she has a boyfriend, yet, she hasn't meet Squall...

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Author's Note: Well, this is my first fic ever so be a little patient if I'm not as good. For the story, in this fic, SeeD isn't meant to destroy the sorceress, as everything went well in the 1st Sorceress war, there's no NORG so Cid takes care of the way the Gardens are run, Xu is the commander of Balamb and both of them chose which missions to do and which not to do, explaining why Riona doesn't has a problem with being part of it, even more, gives her a propose in life to be able to carry out missions helping Timber some day. Anyway this takes up place before timber is free, at the start of the FFVIII game, and there are some intriguing things that should be interesting, although I still know the final couple will be Squall and Rinoa, but you'll see the development. Also, before you get confused by it, the story will be from 2 point of views mainly, squall and Rinoa, but from time to time there will be others popping up there, I figure you will note the difference

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**Between Yesterday and Tomorrow**

Chapter 1: Catching up

It was a sunny day in Balamb, and I had forgotten how hot the weather was down here in summer, as I came down the train station I realized there wasn't anyone waiting for me, but I couldn't really blame anyone for I hadn't warn them I would come early, besides I must be the first one to come back, that's if Seifer did took that trip to Centra to seek those ruins...

"I wonder if I should be worried..." She said aloud without even knowing it

"Rinoa!" She was taken off guard, but smiled as she found the source of her surprise, one of her best friends, a tall blonde with deep blue eyes, she always wondered why her friend didn't had a boyfriend, she was one of the most popular girls in Balamb, heck she even had a fan club! She giggled as the she was thinking that.

"What, not even a hello, and what's all the laughing about, do a have something in my hair again?" The blonde said as she went up the stairs to meet her friend. Her face changing from a smile to a sudden worry.

"Whoa, wait there Quisty, I'm happy to see you again too, it's just I was surprised a bit someone had come, I didn't expect anyone to know" Rinoa replied as she lean forward to hug her friend.

"Save the thanks to General Caraway and Xu, somehow, your father got word I hadn't left Balamb for vacations, so he asked me if I could come pick you up"

"That old man, he's always been over protective, I'm sorry you got in the middle of it" after saying this, Riona remembered Quistis was supposed to go with Selphie, Irvine and Zell to Esthar on vacations, started to say something _but _was suddenly stop by Quisty's hand, "I know, I'll explain in the way, but it's too hot in here to talk with comfort" she said taking one of the several suitcases Riona was carrying, rolling her eyes as she noticed there were 3 big suitcases, but decided not to ask this time.

Soon enough both reached the outsides of Balamb and Quistis pointed to a car that was parked near them, Rinoa nodded and followed Quistis to the car, she wondered if Quistis had got a summer job and buy it with that money..

"Hey Quisty, is it yours?" She asked as she handed one of the suitcases

"Yeah, if it hadn't been for Xu I would've been bored in garden all summer, but she offered some jobs to students who didn't go out on vacations for the summer, you know Balamb is extremely busy in this time of the year, and as I had some money, I thought it would be easier to drive to Balamb rather than walking or taking a taxi..."

"Okay, Okay, I was only asking if it was yours, you don't have relate me all your summer!... Yet" a smirk formed in her face as she spoke the last words

Rinoa stopped before entering the car, looking at the town of Balamb and the near shore, she couldn't stop her mind from wondering how Seifer was doing in Centra, she dismissed the thought soon, remembering he and the others would come back soon. Suddenly she started to think about the future lying before her, Garden was going to start it's normal duties in 3 days, and her life would return to the way it was before she went to visit her father, yet.. she had a feeling everything would change this year, somehow, she couldn't tell why, but she was certain of it.

Once both were in the car, Rinoa focused on her friend and her outgoing nature made itself present again, thinking if it was ok to ask her about the summer now, and easily reading Rinoa's expression, Quistis decided they had to start talking if she wanted to have dinner tonight, for Rinoa would certainly not let go until she had heard everything.

"Alright, so, where you want me to start?" she asked trying to put attention while still driving.

"Hehe, ohh, tell me why you don't have a boyfriend yet?" Rinoa asked teasingly

"I Thought you were going to ask about the summer... what, wait a minute, how can you know if I have one now, I was alone all the summer you know?" Quistis shoot back with a frown on her face

"Because, you would've dragged him with you to Balamb, even if he was on slippers!" Riona said starting to giggle

"That hurts, I'm not **that **bossy, or am I?... wait, don't answer that" Rinoa couldn't stop laughing in her seat "To answer your question, I think all the guys in the school are just immature.." realizing her mistake she tried to think fast "you and Selphie got all the good guys" she quickly added, so Rinoa wouldn't notice, yet, it was still the truth, Quistis had a bit of a crush for Seifer some time ago, before he started to went out with Rinoa.

"Hey, don't forget Zell, he may be weird, but he's still a nice guy" Riona was still trying to regain control of herself and not laugh

"He's just not my type, besides he's gross when he's eating, and has a secret love"

"Whoa, really, Zell, with who?" Riona was really surprised to hear that, all Zell could ever think about were hot-dogs and fighting styles.

"Yep, it's the librarian with the piggy-tail"

"Zell, with a librarian, what has this world come to?" Rinoa just couldn't picture Zell around books, but she always thought love comes in unexpected ways, so she smiled at the thought of her friend falling for a librarian, even when she hoped he wouldn't get hurt.

"Yes indeed, and that's not the best gossip in garden, there are news of a new transfer student coming from Esthar, apparently it's said Xu and Cid had troubles with "you know who" keeping anyone else from becoming gunblade specialist in Balamb"

"Really, it's not like Seifer threatens them!" Rinoa rolled her eyes, she thought people overreacted the way Seifer acted, to her, he was just acting cool, people just took it too seriously, so much the whole garden feared him in some way, except a few, but they never got in his way anyway.

"Apparently Cid thinks no one wants to practice with Seifer or around him, so they just discard the gunblade path before being asked"

"So.. how does the new guy fits in all this?"

"Ohh yes, this is where things get good, word has it that Esthar garden has over 50 of it's male students with gunblade as their weapon, the intriguing part is they supposedly chose that path to follow the steps of a certain model student who seems to be quite popular in Esthar, but appears to be really obnoxious and non-talkative, yet they look up to him"

Rinoa listened silently as her friend went on with the new student, her mood suddenly changed from some minutes ago, she was no longer laughing or being care-free as always, she was interested in the way things were moving, she was even worried of how this would affect her life, being Seifer's girlfriend she always stood by his side.

"Uhmm, so they expect him to have that effect in Balamb too?" As she asked, she realized how much Quistis knew about this, she wasn't much into the gossip market, and she seemed really interested in this matter

"And not only that, they could've brought other guys, but I asked Xu why this one and she told me any other guy would eventually drop it to Seifer, but this guy was different, he wouldn't back off anyone, but was very loyal towards his superiors" Quistis then noted her friend had a strange grin on her face, but she couldn't tell why.

"Don't you think they're over-reacting, it's like they were trying to get Seifer out of garden.." Rinoa was starting to worry about how Seifer would take the news

"Yes, and if you ask me, I think there's more to it than just a one student problem, but Xu wouldn't tell me that" after a few seconds pause, she said "Don't worry Rin, if this guy is as they say, he won't cause any problems" trying to calm Rinoa

"I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about Seifer, he's going to feel that as a personal attack" _and I wonder if I should too _she keep that thought to herself, her personality always made her talk, but some parts of her thoughts she always keep to herself.

A sudden silent came to the car as both students drown to their minds, none wanting to go on about this, fortunately they didn't had to be silent for long, as they were getting close to Garden.

Quistis parked the car and turned it off letting out a sigh then turned to her friend and said with a smile "sorry about that, I'm still learning how to drive this thing", Rinoa nodded and opened her door of the car, feeling the never changing weather of garden, she made a mental note to thank Cid and Xu for artificial weather, then moved slowly to the back of the car to pick up her belongings.

Once they were out of the parking lot, Rinoa had to put her suitcases down to take a deep breath with the sight of the garden, the immensity of it never seemed to dawn in her completely, every time she saw it's inside after a long time away she was amazed of how big it seemed, and the water running trough it's structure always made Rinoa happy.

"If you're done we can go up to your room to leave this things, then go get something for dinner before it's late" Quistis had already made to the idea this was going to take longer than expected, and that talk about the new guy only made things take longer.

"Let's go, I'm hungry too, so I'll unpack everything later" Riona took her suitcases again and went after her friend, but she still had her eyes on halls and the water, then she noticed how the garden looked bigger when it was almost empty as it was now, only a few students were in the hallways, the elevator wasn't busy, and you could almost hear the sound of the water if you really tried to.

Before she knew it, they had reached her room, it was the last one to the left of the first hall (A/N there are a few more halls, and everyone lives in garden, well at least everyone with a big role in this fic, though maybe later I'll have someone pop in who lives in Balamb, which is btw farther away than it was in the game, around 20 minutes driving) then she took her id out from one of her pockets, and after putting all the suitcases inside, she took a good look of her room, and was about to run to her bed like a child, but only sighed and went out closing the door behind her.

"Okay, let's go grab something to eat, but if you don't mind, I would like to rest after that, I couldn't get much sleep on the train" she let out a small yawn, but that was only half the truth, the other part was that she wanted to think and drift away to her little world, something that wasn't usual with her.

"Ohh I'm sorry, I should've know that, well then, let's hurry up" they started to walk down the hall, what Rinoa didn't knew then was that the room across hers was appointed to the transfer student..

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**Note**: Okay, that's chapter 1, I was going to make it longer, but I want to see if my writings are of the like of anybody, else, if no one is going to read my fic it's useless to keep writing, I know how the plot will develop, but my likes in writing are slow stories (not boring) that bring in detail and with this long chapters, the following will be around twice this big and will come mainly in the weekends, I'm guessing one per month or faster would be my phase. That said I only have 2 things more to say P, one, please don't flame me much, my former language isn't English so there should be plenty of typos or grammars, aside that i think someone may even like this; second one, please review, it doesn't takes long, and it will let me know someone is reading, feel free to ask me anything or tell me things to improve my writing. That's all for now ). 


	2. A New Beginning

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Final Fantasy, if you have any idea to change that, let me know P.

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**Author's Note**: Well, I've decided to keep writing this story, hopefully I can make a good one, expect long chapters from me because I like them P, and may lead to a long story, also I usually describe everything the best possible, if not the surroundings the mood or the thoughts of those involved, I like to think a lot, so I'm always wondering what everyone is thinking, anyway, enjoy this chapter and review please, it really helps me, btw I write personal thanks in my profile in case anyone cares ).

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Chapter 2: A New Beginning

As the wind comes in slowly trough the open window in Rinoa's bedroom, whispering to her ear, touching her soft skin, then suddenly stronger, making her hair wave, and sending shivers trough her spine, then calm, and the process was repeated over and over again, giving up she turned around in her bed, half sleep, half awake, and noted how the sun was starting to cover her entire body, feeling her body crumble with the feeling, even when the days were still warm, the autumn was starting to make itself present, or was it just her mind playing tricks again, Balamb was located near the sea, so the weather was never completely cold, yet the air was always cold, and the fact of having a mountain behind them didn't made the air more warm. Reaching out with one hand and closing her window, the sun was then softened by the intervention of a small cloud, placing her hand back in her pillow, she was dragged again to the world where she didn't had any worries, and more important, where she could see her mother.., with a small smile forming in her lips, she gave in to that world, deciding she wasn't going to waste this last day of vacations getting up early, no force in earth could take her away from her bed in this moment.

Squall Leonhart came out of the taxi after paying the driver, he was arriving to a new Garden, as a transfer student one day before the classes started, he shrugged at the idea of complaining to his superior of how sudden was all done, and how thoughtless towards him, he wasn't one to defy the authority.

Cursing his luck for catching a cold in the night train, and failing to find a taxi in Balamb town for being so early in the morning, then having to sleep over a bench while he waited, at least his day couldn't be getting any worst, or so he thought...

The young student slowly walked up the stairs and moved into the huge facility, trying to remember the directions given to him by Kiros before leaving Esthar, finding the way in and not having another choice but keep walking, he soon found what he was looking for, a tall elevator with automatic doors was past a set of stairs, but in front of it was a Pretty brunette with mid-long hair and brown eyes, dressed with a SeeD uniform (A/N: yeah it's not Rinoa, disappointed? P), he was spotted by the girl, who waited for him in front of the elevator.

"You must be Squall Leonhart" she asked with a formal tone, squall just nodded without showing much interest to start talking.

"Greetings, my name is Xu, and I'm the Commander of this Garden, unless Cid is around of course" she smiled trying to break the ice between them, but without luck to get a sympathetic sign or word, she moved on.

"I hope you had a good trip, the Headmaster is waiting for you in his office, I'll show you the way" squall gave thanks he wasn't carrying but one single travel case besides his bag, otherwise he would've been tempted to hit her, regardless if it wasn't her fault he had a bad day, no one expected him to be this early.

The way into the Headmaster's office was silent, but Squall's mind was as busy as always, taking good care to record the location of the office in his mind, but he was absorbed by the sight of Balamb from the elevator, he hadn't really seen the building besides the main corridor and the elevator, so he was surprised it was so different from Esthar, not only in size, but in colors and forms, in the way the halls were placed, the simple way of it's design, and even the delight of the sound of the water that was everywhere, but the vision of it was abruptly interrupted by a flash and then a sound indicating they had reach their destination.

In front of them was a double-door and a small door to their right (A/N: in this story the third floor is a bit bigger since Xu has her office there, and it's not the only office there, but I'll let you know of any changes to garden as we move on), all carpeted in red, the walls had a different design from the other floors, making clear to the eye this wasn't a place where everyone was allowed to come anytime they wanted.

"I'll tell the Headmaster you're here, please wait here a second" Xu said and moved into the office, squall made it's way towards one of the couches to his left, the headmaster was a busy, well known man in all Gardens, so he figured it could take a while, yet the day proved him wrong again when he heard the door swing open.

"Go ahead in, I'll be back in a second" Xu walked past squall with a cheerful mood. _Yeah like they were going to miss you Xu _was all he managed to think before leaning her face against the glass inside the elevator, "Now where could she be..." she was getting tired of finding people in a rather empty Garden, she smiled of how ironic was it that she was missing all the students, that wasn't something she thought she would do.

Giving a last glance to the girl in the elevator, squall made it's way towards the open door, knocking once before hearing the familiar voice.

"Come in Squall".

"I'm terribly sorry we couldn't send anyone to pick you up at the train station, we were expecting you to come this morning, but not **that** early this morning, when we got the call from Esthar telling us you would arrive anytime if you hadn't done so already, I sent Xu immediately to wait for you at the elevator, if she had wait outside she might have catch a cold" Cid then became conscious of the frown in the student's forehead, then apologized "I'm sorry I always talk faster than I should, the rhythm of work here is hectic, but take a seat" was all he managed to say.

"It's fine, I'm used to it, after all I have Laguna for father" (A/N: Squall lived with Laguna while he was in Esthar, they have a _normal_ relationship, as normal as any relationship can be with the obnoxious squall before-Rinoa, sadly Raine is still dead / ) he replied and moved to a chair in front of Cid's desk.

"Ohh yes, anyway, how was the train?" Cid tried to make squall talk, something he always tried, yet always failing.

"It was fine" was all he got in reply.

"Well then, I'm sure you will fit perfectly in Balamb Garden, I'm looking forward to your skills as a gunblade specialist" Cid turned in his rotating chair to escape from the piercing look of squall, he wasn't good to mask his thoughts.

"With all due respect sire, I don't see the reason of my transfer to Balamb, the instructors of Esthar were more than capable to lead my training" he was surprised he could've said that, he never questioned his transfer to anyone, but the idea of it was intriguing him.

"The reason was for you to experience with a different environment, and being used to be away from home, with all the missions you will be assigned to, travel around the world will be a common thing" Cid expected squall would buy that, he didn't expected squall to listen to the gossips around him, and someone with authority wouldn't tell him they were right.

"Understood" he was disappointed of the answer, yet he knew he wasn't going to get anything else from Cid right now.

There was a small silence between the two before a knock on the door broke it.

"Come in" a familiar face walked inside the room, with the same smile she left with.

"I've found her sir, she is waiting outside" Squall turned around his chair a little surprised by this comment.

"Good, ask her to come inside, then you can leave" Cid was relieved she had found her so fast, a long conversation with Squall Leonhart wasn't something he would've liked to try.

"Right away" Xu saluted, then turned back on her steps to leave the room

"Ohh and Xu" Cid added with a serious façade

"Yes?" The commander turned hastily with a sign of worry in her face, quickly going trough her duties in search of something she might have missed

"Thanks, I don't know what we would do without you" The demeanor of the Headmaster changed from seriousness to one of gratitude towards the commander

"Ohh... it's nothing" Xu had again her common smile, yet she thought of how much work she and Mr.Kramer had leading Balamb, other Gardens were easier to manage since the number of students wasn't as great as it was here, nonetheless she liked her work in here. A few moments after Xu left the room...

"Ahh, Quistis, (A/N: no Rinoa yet P) take a sit" Cid stood up to welcome the blonde student. While Squall fixed his eyes on the new face, and perceived the suitable Garden uniform she was wearing, regardless of still being summer-break.

"Thanks sir" Quistis moved to the chair to the left side of Squall and tried hard not to seem too obvious about her interest in the guy sitting next to her, only nodding in his way as a sign of courtesy.

"Ahh stop calling me sir, it's making me feel like an old man" Squall tried hard not to laugh or roll his eyes, Cid wasn't very young, but still tried to remain as one.

"Okay, I'll try" Quistis giggled while Cid perceived a slight change in Squall

"Ohh, excuse my manners please, this is Squall Leonhart Loire, Squall, this is Quistis Trepe, a model student of Balamb Garden" All Squall could think was how obvious that last sentence was, you could tell she was by just looking.

"Nice to meet you Squall, I've heard a lot of things about you" Quistis was pleased to have the opportunity to get to know Squall before the rest of the school, she would be able to know if he would bring any problems.

"Whatever..." Squall never liked to meet anyone, it was pointless to be polite with someone if they would end up leaving in the end, so he was only polite when it was a duty.

"Err, Quistis, why don't you give squall a tour around the facilities, then show him the way to his dorm, I'm sure you'll find it, it's the one in front of Rinoa's" Cid tried to avoid a verbal fight between two of his best students.

"Ohh, ok, shall we?" There was a faked smile in Quistis' face, she wasn't going to lose her temper so fast, she expected some hostility from the transfer student, but this was just faster than she expected

"Again, welcome to Balamb garden, and be sure to ask Quistis or Xu if you need anything, I'm not as reliable as they are" What Cid told squall was true, Xu and Quistis were closer than him to the student body, and he had always know Quistis would make a great instructor once she had graduated.

"That's because you're always behind tons of paperwork and traveling around the world"

"That's what I get for being headmaster" Sometimes the only wish in his mind was to be with Edea, and the thought of retiring was something he was now longing for, but there was always an important matter to address, a decision he had to make, an action to be taken, and the burnout was starting to get to him, Xu had only grasped what he was going trough with full force.

The doors of the elevator moved aside to make way to the students inside, finishing a silence that had lasted since they left Cid's office, one of them never the talkative type and the other smart enough to know when words don't do any good.

"This is the main hall, but I'm sure you've seen it before" Squall rolled his eyes as he did when people tried to be funny.

"Follow me this way please, I'll try to explain the areas to you, then proceed to give you a quick tour around them, if you have any doubt or want more details about any of them I'm all ears" Quistis finally stopped trying to be social and just proceeded to do what was asked from her.

"Understood" _And I was starting to think he had lost his tongue_ she couldn't stop having sarcastic thoughts.

Quistis proceeded to walk down the stairs and quietly explained Squall how easy was to find anything in Balamb, all sections were connected to a main circular hall, excepting the classrooms located in the second floor, she went inside only to the library and to the cafeteria, since the other rooms were not visited as often, but she did however mentioned a few pointers about the Training Center and the Quad, how the Training Center here had low level T-Rexes, so using a sleep spell or some other way to make him sleep worked just fine in case there were any troubles; for the Quad, she explained how there was little if any interest from the students, only Selphie Tilmitt was really trying to make the festival happen, so all that was there was a mess of materials. Their first visit was the dormitories so Squall could leave his baggage inside his room, Quistis didn't even bother to knock on Rinoa's door, it was too early for her to be awake, so the tour was quiet and peaceful, once they were done with the first floor, they moved up to have a look at the classrooms.

"Well, that's about it, I hope you like it here" She stopped before they reached the elevator in the second floor

"Thank you, I would've get lost easily finding the classrooms in the first floor"

"You can't believe how often that happens" There was a change in her expression when she looked it was already past midday. "Have you seen Balamb yet?" She wasn't sure why she was asking, but she wanted to know more about Squall

"I've explored all the possible ways of sleeping in a bench in the outsides of the Town, but apart from that, no" Squall had to accept his whole day had been full of irony, but Quistis giggled thinking it was a bad joke "Don't tell me they didn't sent anyone to pick you up?" She didn't need an answer to know that, just by looking at his face she realized he was being serious, "Wow, they really left you there!" Unable to be serious any longer, she started to laugh while Squall only rolled his eyes, but she could tell he was hiding a smile.

Once the laughing stopped Quistis keep talking "Hey, I have to go to Balamb for a meeting, but if you like you can come with me and I'll show you the town, the meeting won't take long anyway" This wasn't the usual Quistis talking, she was the lonely one among her group of friends, but maybe that was about to change.

"I'm really tired right now, sleeping and eating would be my top priorities today" Squall regretted he couldn't say he was sorry or something else more nice than that, this was what always get him to be lonely.

"Ohh... ok, well, I can give you my number in case you find yourself bored or need anything" Quistis wished she hadn't say that, it made her look as if she was desperate "Whatever" His actions could tell more than his words once he took out a pen.

After the formal good-byes, Squall was left alone in the 2nd floor Hall, wondering if what he did was the best, and if this was his one chance to change back his temperament to what it was long ago, after all, no one in here knew him yet, but he dismissed the thought as fast as it came, it would be pointless to do that.

Once in the first floor Squall walked to the dormitories to take a nap before going to the Cafeteria, his mind was tired and so was his body, after sliding the id card trough the reader, he rushed to his bed closing the door behind him with his foot, then collapsed to the bed, not bothering to do anything else, his mind would never had guessed, that across the hall, awaking from her slumber, was the woman who would forever change his life for the better, yet, never easily, and never as quiet as now.

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**Author's Note**: Alright! That was chapter 2, and I didn't liked it as much as I did 1st, but that's easy to explain since my pre-Rinoa Squall is not very funny or interesting, he barely speaks at all, but don't worry, once Rinoa gets in the picture, he'll be doomed P, and yeah I can't deny that will happen next chapter, but can you tell how? I reckon next chapter will be more interesting and more Squinoa related, I may include other couples in the future, by the way, Quistis will have a big role in this fic, I don't want to give more spoilers, so expect the next chapter within 2 weeks, probably less since 2 weekends are before that P, Review please, it really helps and encourages me ) 


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